Atlantic Series
The Atlantic Series will be hitting San Jose streets on July 29. This formula racing style made its debut back in 1974 and is known as the last of the stepping stones to Champ Car or Indy Racing for any driver. In 2006, the series was revamped and is exclusively run with Swift 016.a chassis and the Mazda-Cosworth DOHC inline-4 engine that cranks out a cool 300 bhp. Los Gatos local A.J. Allmendinger is one of the graduates of the Atlantic Series. He raced in Champ Car in '06 and has now moved on to NASCAR. Other prestigious Atlantic alumni are Mario Andretti and Katherine Legge. (Click here to see a full-size version of the above image.)

Drift Car
This technique was first made popular almost 30 years ago by Kunimistsu Takahashi, who used its very high exit speeds coming out of turns to win several championships and a legion of followers. One of them, Keiichi Tsuchiya, continued developing Takahashi's techniques on the mountain roads of Japan. Soon the drift style took over street racing and now has become a popular motor sport where the competitions are judged based on speed, line, show factor and angle. (Full-size version)

Historic Stock Car Racing
For the third consecutive year, the San Jose GP will host the Historic Stock Car Race—in other words, cars that belong to a specific era of racing between 1981 and 1994. John Davis and Ron Huber originated the HSCRS with the sole purpose of being able to race retired stock cars. The series keeps those dreams of old alive and running. The HSCRS is not associated with NASCAR, but the drivers must prove that the vehicle is NASCAR certified. And considering that former sponsors of the car do not offer any compensation should it get wrecked on the track, it's risky business keeping these gems running at 160 mph. (Full-size version)

Champ Car
The Main Event: High-powered drivers handling machines that accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in three seconds. The record for fastest lap in San Jose is held by two-time winner Sebastian Bourdais at just under one minute and twenty-eight seconds, at almost 114 mph. Champ Car races are highly combustible, as proven last year when Paul Tracy had more than words in the pit lane with Australian Tagliani after Tracy caused an unjustifiable risk. Also on the wanted list is Katherine Legge, who bumped into Andrew Ranger not once but twice, and was suspended for three races last season. Prepare for yet another season of smack down ... er, racing. (Full-size version)

Freestyle Motocross
Ever since Cru Jones pulled that backflip on a BMX in Rad in 1986, there have been some crazy guys pushing the envelope to reach the most ridiculously extreme bike stunts imaginable. For the 21st Century, we now have FMX—surly men going 60 feet into the air on motocross bikes, pulling acrobatic feats that barely fit into the few seconds they're suspended in mid-air. It's hard to know whether to ask "How?" or "Why?" (Full-size version)

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